rolling ear to ear and back again

Ushering in July

Remember that guy attacking Asian women in NYC? Mr. Tyrell Shaw, aged 25, hung himself in an elevator. You know, if he was just creepy, I’d feel a little bad because he was obviously dealt a short hand in mental health, support system, and most likely life in general, but creepy and violent SPECIFICALLY people who look like me? I mean, jesus. I get that Asian women are the “in” target market these days, but that doesn’t mean there should be a bullseye on their backs, now does it? Anyway, if you really want to read his manifestos and all the awkward, “poor me” shit that these violent criminals always write before they hurt people, then here’s the link.

We know Greece has been screwed since five or so years ago, so I almost don’t even care about that.

Denmark and Germany are members of the Schengen area, a grouping of 26 European nations that have abolished border controls between them and agreed to strengthen Europe’s external borders. The agreement dates back to 1995; Denmark joined in 2001 along with other Scandinavian countries.

As of 2015, all but six E.U. nations have signed up, with the exception of Britain and Ireland, who opted out, and four other newer E.U. member states who are legally obligated to join. A number of non-E.U. states, such as Switzerland and Iceland, are also members.

This is the area where having a European citizenship grants you what’s basically US state-to-state rights and access, and in turn brings the same problems that our system does; unwanted immigration and easy drug-trafficking. For these reasons, Denmark wants to bolster its security on its German border. People are worried that Denmark would be violating the Schengen agreement doing this, and I’m sure it simply offends a few German people as well. This isn’t the first time borders controls have been used, and under Schengen rules, there are exceptions to the open border policy that can be used: France reinstalled border controls after the bomb attacks in London in 2005, for example, and Germany put some border controls in place during the 2006 World Cup. But Germany has had a huge issue with undocumented immigration, with an increase of 75% between 2013 and 2014; Denmark perhaps a point, as its border with Germany is the largest it has.

I know there are people who are hoping these are all accidents, which is sweet, but if you get your heads out of your asses, it smells a little different out here. These are terrorist attacks. The FBI looks to the Code of Federal Regulations definition: “The unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.” I would say ARSON ON FUCKING CHURCHES is a use of force and violence against persons and property to intimidate a civilian population.

Now, just getting away from the racial motivations for a second: I’ve had a decent amount of bad experiences with Christianity and its congregates. Enough that most offers of inclusion into their space leaves me feeling awkward, if not really skittish and suspicious. I’m also not the most peaceful person; I was raised in a somewhat unstable environment and I have thought about causing harm and destruction as a demonstration of my emotions. But never have I ever thought attacking a church directly (or shooting up their lay people) was a justifiable thing to do. Churches are places of refuge, places that stand to hold people when they are at their lowest. Even when I hated Christianity and everything it stood for for me, I liked churches. Here’s to hoping those committing acts that are lower-than-low are caught soon, and that their names are erased from memory once they’ve received justice.